Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 17:21:37 -0700 From: Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Subject: GLAADLines November 2, 1998 GLAADLINES Contact: Liz Tracey, Publications Manager (212) 807-1700 tracey@glaad.org http://www.glaad.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 2, 1998 News and Breaking Stories about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community MATTHEW SHEPARD VIGILS THREATENED IN E-MAIL POSTING: According to a press release issued by the owner/administrator of a Matthew Shepard commemorative website, a message was posted to it threatening future vigils with violence, stating "you will be met with brutal ass-kicking force." The e-mail message, according to John Aravosis, webmaster of Matthew Shepard Online Resources, appears to have been sent from a computer at New York University. The e-mail, sent on October 31, went on to say that "I will personally hurt any fag or dyke who comes to force their perverted views on us...Your time is up fags!" The site, Matthew Shepard Online Resources, where the message was allegedly posted, has been an invaluable resource for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community for Shepard-related information and events. Aravosis observed in a press release, "These unfortunate incidents show that anti-gay prejudice is alive and well in America, and more widespread than many would like to admit." This is not the first hate message posted to the site, and in the weeks following Shepard's murder, a number of organizations serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community received threatening e-mails promising more anti-gay violence to come. For more information, contact John Aravosis (Wired Strategies/Matthew Shepard Online Resources) at (202)-328-5707 or via e-mail at john@wiredstrategies.com. ELECTION DAY COVERAGE "GOING TO THE POLLS, AND WE'RE GONNA GET MARRIED?" Two of the most hotly watched referenda this year are in the youngest of our states: both Alaska and Hawaii will consider whether to amend their state Constitutions in the ongoing struggle for lesbian and gay marriage. Where Alaska's initiative would define marriage as valid only between one man and one woman, Hawaii would be voting on whether to hold a Constitutional Convention, which would allow opponents of equal marriage rights to define marriage as solely between one man and one woman. The referenda have garnered not only significant press coverage, but also large out-of-state contributions to those working to deny civil marriage to lesbian and gay Americans from religious political extremists, as well as the Mormon Church. In response to the initiatives, regardless of the outcome, actions will be conducted at the national, state and local levels to reassert the need for lesbians and gay men to have fair and equal access to this civil institution, are slated for Friday, November 6, 1998,. For more information about the referenda, the outcome or Friday's events, contact Peg Byron (Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund) at (212) 809.8585. GLAAD will provide national and regional media with access to those who will be directly affected by this vote (clergy, couples, children, parents and friends of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender individuals) and who can put this issue into a universal context via their poignant, determined and courageous stories. For more information, contact Wonbo Woo (GLAAD) at (212) 807-1700, or via e-mail at woo@glaad.org. CT. STATE RACE TURNS UGLY: An election race between an incumbent lesbian state representative and a Pentecostal preacher who is seeking to unseat her in Connecticut has taken a turn for the ugly. Rev. Gabriel Carrera who is facing Rep. Evelyn Mantilla a Democrat from Hartford, has been using Mantilla's sexual orientation as a prime focus for his campaign. Among the charges to be found on his website, http://www.gabrielcarrera.com, are that Mantilla is "rubbing her sexuality in Hartford's face," has called lesbian and gay unions "vile affections" and "abominations", and in Spanish language campaign literature, uses the slogan "No Vayas Meter La PATA En El 4to Distrito!" This can be translated as either "Don't Screw up the 4th District" or, "Don't stick the dyke in the 4th District." A demonstration was held recently to protest Carrera's tactics, organized by a coalition of Latino/a and lesbian and gay rights leaders. Latino/a Lesbian & Gay Organization (LLEGO) Executive Director Martin Ornelas-Quintero stated at the rally, "We stand together as these attacks on the Latino community must immediately cease, as they are a hateful, unfounded, bigoted and homophobic-laced plea to intimidate, scare and fuel hatred towards lesbians, gay men, bisexual and transgender people. For more information, contact Benjamin Sheppard (LLEGO) at (202) 466-8240. THREE OUT WOMEN...IN THE HOUSE: The three races for the House of Representatives being conducted by openly lesbian candidates Christine Kehoe (D-California), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) and Magarethe Cammermeyer (D-Washington) will be decided tomorrow by the voters of their respective states. Even if only one of these candidates wins, it will be an historic victory, not only for those running, but for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community as a whole. While Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) and Jim Kolbe (R-Arizona) are both out gay men and up for re-election, a victory by any or all of the women would make them the first openly lesbian or gay non-incumbents to win election to the U.S. Congress (both Frank and Kolbe came out as gay men while in the House.) Kathleen DeBold of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund observed "The unprecedented number of openly gay Congressional candidates is a tribute to the quality of these candidates and to their ability to build strong coalitions of fairminded voters." For more information on the candidates or the results of races involving lesbian and gay candidates, contact Kathleen DeBold (Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund) at (202) 628.9151. GLAAD is the nation's lesbian & gay multimedia advocacy organization. GLAAD promotes fair, accurate, and inclusive representation as a means of challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. 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